Lady Antebellum leads ACM Nominations

Chicago’s country music station receives nomination; local country music hotspot slighted.

The Academy of Country Music released, on Tuesday, the slate of nominations for the 45th annual Academy of Country Music Awards. Country music stars Reba McEntire and Blake Shelton announced nominations during a televised presentation. McEntire will return, for her 12th consecutive time, as host for the annual awards gala. The awards program will broadcast live on CBS Television on Sun., April 18.

Artist Nominations:

Lady Antebellum leads with seven nominations, including Album of the Year for their self-titled debut and for Top Vocal Group. In addition, the trio picked up nods for Single Record of the Year, Song of the Year and Video of the Year for “Need You Now.” They were also nominated as a producer for Single Record of the Year and as a composer for Song of the Year.

Miranda Lambert and Carrie Underwood both earned six nominations. If Underwood, the reigning the ACM Entertainer of the Year, wins the category again, she will be the first female in Academy history to capture the award twice.

Taylor Swift received five nominations including her first nod for Entertainer of the Year; Kenny Chesney and Brad Paisley, the reigning Top Male Vocalist, each received four nominations. The Zac Brown Band received four nominations while the group’s lead, Zac Brown, received two additional nominations for a total of six.

Local Nominations:

On the home front, Chicago’s own US99, America’s Country Station, (WUSN-FM) picked up a nominations for Major Market Radio Station of the Year in the Academy’s industry awards categories. The reigning Nightclub of the Year, Joe’s Bar, surprisingly didn’t return to this year’s nomination list.

Fan Voted Awards:

Returning in 2010, fans can vote for the coveted Entertainer of the Year slot and the three “new artist” categories —Top New Solo Vocalist, Top New Vocal Group and Top New Vocal Duo. Winners of each “top new” category will then proceed to compete for Top New Artist, which is also fan voted.

The fan voted categories and nominations include:

Entertainer of the Year:

Kenny Chesney, Toby Keith, Brad Paisley, George Strait, Taylor Swift, Carrie Underwood, Keith Urban and the Zac Brown Band

Top New Solo Vocalist of the Year:

Luke Bryan, Jamey Johnson and Chris Young

To New Vocal Duo of the Year:

Bomshel, Joey + Rory and Steel Magnolia

Top New Vocal Group of the Year:

Eli Young Band, Gloriana and The Lost Trailers

Fans can cast their ballots for all categories on voteACM.com. The winners of Entertainer of the Year and Top New Artist will be announced during the live telecast, which will broadcast from the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas on Sun., April 18 at 7 p.m. CDT on the CBS Television Network.

For a complete list of categories and nominations, visit ACMcountry.com.

Editor’s Question: Who do you want to win?

For Cowboy Troy it’s all about the fans

CMC Exclusive: The six-feet, five inches tall, black rapping country artist takes his fans so seriously in fact, that they helped him decide what would go on his latest album, “Demolition Mission: Studio Blue Sessions,” released in Sept. 2009. The first half of the record features Cowboy Troy singing, while the second half features his signature “hick-hop”. Prior to the release of the album, he asked his fans and audiences to tell him what they wanted on the record.

“If they like it, tell me,” Cowboy Troy said. “If not, tell me.”

Already working on new material, Cowboy Troy will seek input from his fans once again. He has plans to debut some new material on tour this summer. Cowboy Troy’s Live and Loud Cowboy Stomp Tour will hit the Chicago-area March 15 for the US99 Kix Brooks Announcement Party; July 8 for the Joliet Race Fan Rally in downtown Joliet; the afternoon of July 10 for the US99 pre-race party concert in Joliet; the evening of July 10 at the Byron Festival; He’ll emcee at the LogJam Fest in Phillips, Wisc, July 30 – Aug. 1; and Aug. 29 for Zoo Tunes at Brookfield Zoo.

“I realize that I provide a service that no one requires,” Cowboy Troy said of his relationship with fans. “As a musician, no one requires what I do… if people have something of mine, it’s because they want it and I think it is important in providing a service that nobody needs but they want, that I provide what they want. That’s why I make sure I listen to what they say. They are the ones who are paying for it.”

With regard to the new album, Cowboy Troy encourages new listeners to play “Cash in the Cookie Jar” first, recognizing it is an up-tempo, snappy song that people seem to like. His favorite, however, is “Crown.”

“It talks about stuff that is very close to me,” he said. “It is my own personal experience. It is almost autobiographical.”

Cowboy Troy grew up in Dallas, Texas listening to a mix of country music, rap and rock, a combination he has used on all of his records.

“I’ve been doing that on all three of my major records I have done,” he said. “I’ve always kind of combined all three styles, so it’s not anything brand new to me. Once, it’s an accident; twice is a coincidence; three times is a trend.”

Because of a serious lack of radio play, Cowboy Troy relies on word-of-mouth to spread his music. To keep in touch with fans new and old, he utilizes social media including MySpace and Twitter.

“People can see the conversation we are having and people get to be in on that,” he said. “It’s kind of a cool thing.”

With 3,100 followers, Cowboy Troy is an avid “tweet-er”. When he’s just sitting around watching television, or his kids do something silly, or he goes out somewhere, he tweets about it. He thinks Twitter is a way to let all of his followers in on his conversations with others.  Find Cowboy Troy on Twitter.com @cowboytroy.

On the web: cowboytroy.com – cowboytroyent.com

Nashville shines at GRAMMY Awards

This article was originally featured on Grammy.com/blogs.

When country music meets the Grammy Awards, it’s always interesting to see the “family” commingled with artists of other popular genres. Even when you drop Taylor Swift into the mix, it seems to bring the best “country girl” out of her. While the country performances might not have had the dripping water like Pink or worn outfits like Gaga, all in all, the genre still walked away with some of the evening’s most prestigious awards and introduced “today’s” country to the world.

On the award front, Swift, after missing out on “Song of the Year” for You Belong With Me and “Best Female Pop Vocal” for You Belong With Me, the country crossover artist picked up “Album of the Year” for her sophomore release, Fearless. Overall, Swift won four Grammy awards out of her eight nominations. Only R&B artist, Beyoncé, left with more hardware (six awards out of her 10 nominations). In addition to her “Album of the Year” award, Swift garnered “Best Female Country Vocal Performance, “Best Country Song” for White Horse and “Best Country Album” for Fearless.

The Zac Brown Band grabbed the overall “Best New Artist” Award, a seemingly surprise win for the Band and for country music. The moment was all the sweeter because country superstars Keith Urban and Miranda Lambert announced the band’s win.

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On the performance side, while being a little slim, the country showcase offered an excellent taste of some of Nashville’s hottest new faces. First to the stage was Lady Antebellum for the performance of its latest hit, Need You Now. Aside from the minor curtain snafu, the trio really exemplified awesome harmonies. Prior to the televised award show, the trio picked up their first Grammy for “Best Country Group or Duo” for, I Run To You.

The Zac Brown Band performed snippets of America The Beautiful, their debut single Chicken Fried, and Dixie Lullaby, a collaboration with legendary artist, Leon Russell. Zac Brown, donning in his signature beanie cap, concluded the performance with some aggressive acoustic guitar-picking.

One of the most sought-after performances of the evening was, of course, Taylor Swift. After singing Today Was A Fairytale, Swift joined Fleetwood Mac’s Stevie Nicks for a so-so duet of the classic Rhiannon. The two ended with a banjo-infused version of Swift’s You Belong With Me.

Carrie Underwood took the stage when she joined in on the 3D tribute to Michael Jackson and Sugarland’s Jennifer Nettles joined rocker Bon Jovi to perform Who Says You Can’t Go Home and then back him on the classic, Living On A Prayer.

In the country field, Keith Urban picked his third “Male Country Vocalist” for Sweet Thing. Carrie Underwood and Randy Travis won for “Country Collaboration” for I Told You So.

During the show, The Recording Academy honored country legends Loretta Lynn and Harold Bradley with Special Merit Awards.

All in all, country music had a pretty good night “kickin’ up its heels” at the 52nd Grammy Awards, proving that country’s still cool.

Swift grabs Grammy for Album of the Year

Los Angeles – Country/pop crossover artist Taylor Swift won the Grammy Award for album of the Year. After missing out on Song of the Year (You Belong With Me) and Best Female Pop Vocal (You Belong With Me) the 20-year-old artist finished the night with a win on her sophomore release “Fearless” on Sunday.

Overall, Swift won four Grammy awards out of her eight nominations. She was only seconded by R&B artist Beyoncé, who left with eight awards out of her 10 nominations. In addition to her Album of the Year award, Swift garnered Best Female Country Vocal Performance, Best Country Song for “White Horse” and Best Country Album for “Fearless”.

During the televised awards show, Swift performed her most recent release “Today Was a Fairytale” followed by a duet with Fleetwood Mac’s Stevie Nicks to the classic “Rhiannon”. Swift ended her performance with “You Belong With Me”.

Zac Brown Band wins Grammy for Best New Artist

Los Angeles – Country music’s The Zac Brown Band won the Best New Artist award at the 52nd Annual Grammy Awards on Sunday. Lead by artist Zac Brown, the band was the only country music group nominated in the overall category. Other nominees included Keri Hilson, MGMT, Silversun Pickups and the Ting Tings.

During televised award show, the band performed snippets of “America the Beautiful”, their debut single “Chicken Fried” and “Dixie Lullaby” a collaboration with artist Leon Russell. Zac Brown, donning his signature beanie cap, concluded their performance with an aggressive acoustic guitar picking.

The band’s major-label debut, “The Foundation”, reached to No. 17 on the U.S. pop chart.

Grammy Awards – Country Nomination Roundup

This year is country music’s night to shine at the 52nd Annual Grammy Awards. Taylor Swift leads the country genre with eight nominations, including five nods outside of the country field, and is only second overall to pop-star Beyoncé. Swift General Field nods include Album of the Year for “Fearless” as well as Record and Song of the Year for “You Belong With Me”. She shares a collaborative nomination with Colbie Caillat for the song “Breathe”.

Country newcomers the Zac Brown Band received a nomination for overall Best New Artist as well as nods for Best Country Album for “The Foundation” and Best Country Performance by a Duo or Group for the song “Chicken Fried”.

The annual awards show will broadcast live, on Sunday, Jan. 31, from the Staples Center in Los Angeles. The show will air locally at 7 p.m. on WBBM-TV.

Here’s a closer look at the Country Field nominations. Taylor Swift, Lee Ann Womack and George Strait lead the genre with three nominations each.

Best Female Country Vocal Performance for a solo vocal performance.

• Dead Flowers – Miranda Lambert
• I Just Call You Mine – Martina McBride
• White Horse – Taylor Swift
• Just A Dream – Carrie Underwood
• Solitary Thinkin’ – Lee Ann Womack

It’s probably a given for Swift to win in this category but I would like to see Lambert pick up a Grammy for Dead Flowers, the first single from her latest album titled “Revolution”. This could very well be a great year for Lee Ann Womack too. Her last win was in 2002 for a collaboration with Willie Nelson.

Best Male Country Vocal Performance for a solo vocal performance.

• All I Ask For Anymore – Trace Adkins
• People Are Crazy – Billy Currington
• High Cost Of Living – Jamey Johnson
• Living For The Night – George Strait
• Sweet Thing – Keith Urban

This is a really tough one as they are all awesome. It’s really hard for me to pick a clear winner but I think I’m going for George Strait. “Living for the Night” was an awesome song and Strait had a great year with it.

Best Country Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocals for established duos or groups with vocals.

• Cowgirls Don’t Cry – Brooks & Dunn
• Chicken Fried – Zac Brown Band
• I Run To You – Lady Antebellum
• Here Comes Goodbye – Rascal Flatts
• It Happens – Sugarland

Most of you know that Sugarland is my favorite but head-to-head I think I would have to go with Lady Antebellum on this one. Hey, it happens….

Best Country Collaboration with Vocals for a collaborative performance, with vocals, by artists who do not normally perform together.

• Beautiful World – Dierks Bentley & Patty Griffin
• Down The Road – Kenny Chesney & Mac McAnally
• Start A Band – Brad Paisley & Keith Urban
• I Told You So – Carrie Underwood & Randy Travis
• Everything But Quits – Lee Ann Womack & George Strait

The Bentley/Griffin duet was awesome but I don’t believe it was released as a radio single. Underwood rendition of Travis’ “I Told You So” really took the charts this summer but Paisley/Urban’s “Start A Band” is my number one pick in this category.

Best Country Song “A Songwriter(s) Award.” (Artist names appear in parentheses.)

• All I Ask For Anymore – Casey Beathard & Tim James, songwriters (Trace Adkins)
• High Cost Of Living – Jamey Johnson & James Slater, songwriters (Jamey Johnson)
• I Run To You – Tom Douglas, Dave Haywood, Charles Kelley & Hillary Scott, songwriters (Lady Antebellum)
• People Are Crazy – Bobby Braddock & Troy Jones, songwriters (Billy Currington)
• White Horse – Liz Rose & Taylor Swift, songwriters (Taylor Swift)

I think Jamey Johnson is an excellent artist/performer but he is a really awesome writer. My nod goes to Johnson and Slater for the “High Cost Of Living”. If you haven’t given this a spin, do so. It’s raw and real.

Best Country Album – Vocal or Instrumental.

• The Foundation – Zac Brown Band
• Twang – George Strait
• Fearless – Taylor Swift
• Defying Gravity – Keith Urban
• Call Me Crazy – Lee Ann Womack

Again, wouldn’t be surprised if Swift took this award. She is highly talented and worthy of it but I think the Zac Brown Band should take it for their debut album “The Foundation”. The album has already produced several radio hits including “Chicken Fried”, “Whatever It Is”, “Toes” and “Highway 20 Ride” is climbing the charts as I write this.

For a complete list of nominations, visit grammy.com.

Find, preview and download the above tracks on iTunes.

Who do you think will win?

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